Yusuf's Café Session

Nearly 30 years ago, Cat Stevens (nee Steven Demetre Georgiou) walked off the stage and out of the music world, converting to Islam and adopting the name Yusuf Islam. In 2007, he released An Other Cup, his first full-length music album since 1978's Back to Earth, which critics embraced as a return to form (albeit with more directly spiritual lyrics). Yusuf's Café Session is a grab-bag DVD that kicks off with a new hour-long 16-song concert filmed at London's Porchester Hall, in which Yusuf plays solo guitar and is backed by a full band on seven songs off the comeback CD, including “Midday (Avoid City After Dark)” and a cover of The Animals' “Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood,” which I understand to be a disingenuous take on his 1989 comment in support of the Iranian Ayatollah Khomeini's fatwa calling for the death of Salman Rushdie, author of The Satanic Verses (in a mostly engaging 53-minute BBC profile of the life, career, and extensive charity work of Stevens/Islam, the musician claims he was misinterpreted, although I'm not sure how much spin you can really put on the remark “he must be killed”). Older Cat Stevens fans will feel right at home with his renditions of “The Wind,” “Don't Be Shy,” “Peace Train,” “Father & Son,” “Wild World,” and “Where Do the Children Play?”—although the last three songs lack the vocal fire of the originals. Presented in Dolby Digital 5.1 and stereo, the disc also includes two music videos, two acoustic performances, and the short promo piece “One More Cup.” Recommended. Aud: P. (R. Pitman)